


Run Program

by delta_entropy



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AI Obi-Wan, Angst, Drabble, Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn, Suitless Darth Vader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delta_entropy/pseuds/delta_entropy
Summary: Obi-Wan had died during the Clone Wars and Anakin created an AI to simulate Obi-Wan.  However, it has been years since he had seen it and now Vader has found the AI again.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 21
Kudos: 275
Collections: SW Especially Satisfying Stories





	1. Chapter 1

Vader glowered at an unassuming black box. It contained the program that Skywalker had been working on, and he had not been able to bring himself to destroy the damned mother board. The dark lord snorted in disdain at his own weakness, even though he turned the program on.

“Hello Anakin” the robotic voice began.  
  
The voice began to shift to the soothing Coruscanti accent. The box flashed briefly as it began to display a hologram of a young General Kenobi. Vader’s gold eyes stared at the familiar visage, soaking in the long forgotten face of his Jedi Master. It had been years since his untimely death, and Skywalker had mourned the loss of his Master.  
  
Skywalker had lost his arm on Geonosis, but Obi-Wan had lost his life there. He was unable to marry Padme like they had originally intended due to his grief, but soldiered on. The war did not allow time for grieving and the Jedi were stretched thin. He was quickly knighted and given command of his own troopers. However, the young knight had blamed himself, and his arrogant attitude. His inability to let his master go resulted in this, abomination.  
  
The program had two versions of Obi-Wan programmed into it. The first program, which he named Padawan, was a younger Obi-Wan. It was comprised of all the information Skywalker could get his hands on about his master. Nothing was left out, old mission reports, recordings, personal journal entries. It had been the basis of the full program, which Skywalker had named General.  
  
Vader stared at the program, shocked that he chose to run the General program before the Padawan program. The younger version of Obi-Wan was easy to talk to compared to his older counter part. His emotions were easy to read, and he had quickly learned that his Master had suffered from self worth issues, and constant fear of not being good enough to become a Jedi, since he had been continuously rejected through a portion of his time as a Padawan. Even though Skywalker had adored the spitfire ginger, he was determined to recreate his master as well.  
  
“Here I thought you had forgotten about me.”  
  
“You would have been mistaken old man.” Vader retorted, falling back into an old habit.  
  
The Sith Lord felt conflicted about seeing and even hearing the familiar tone which Obi-Wan spoke to him. He knew that the real Obi-Wan would have never approved of him creating this program, nor would he appreciate that his own Padawan had fallen. The unease must have shown on his face, since the hologram raised an eyebrow, and cocked Obi-Wan’s head to the side. The program could emulating every reaction that Obi-Wan was known to make and calculating the appropriate response to “Anakin’s” actions. The hologram huffed before fondly smiling at the dark lord.

“Anakin, is something wrong?”  
  
“No.” Vader growled, as the hologram unknowingly was provoking the beast. “Why did I even feel the need to turn this thing on?” He asked himself, but already knowing the answer.

The hologram froze for a moment. The last file that Skywalker had tried inputting was a personal journal from Obi-Wan. It contained the information that the program had analyzed as Obi-Wan writing about his deepest attachment. Skywalker had assumed it was a glitch, but the program would always continue to the same conclusion.  
  
”Anakin... I want you to know-”  
  
”Shut down.” Vader ordered, but the program persisted.  
  
“you’ve always been my deepest att-”  
  
”I SAID SHUT DOWN.” Vader yelled.   
  
His powers crushing the exterior of the black box that held the program, but did not destroy the core processor. The Sith Lord was breathing heavily, pupils constricted, sweat beading along his brow. It was not really Obi-Wan, it was just a program, it could not love him. It was created by a delusional Skywalker, and Vader refused to believe that Obi-Wan had ever felt anything remotely similar to what he had once felt. But Anakin Skywalker was the one who wanted Obi-Wan’s unconditional love, and because of Skywalker, Vader desired it as well.  
  
That desire was the one thing that had protected the program. The memory of Obi-Wan was tucked safely within the machine. Vader would never be able to truly destroy his last connection to his Jedi Master. All of the precious memories and records about Obi-Wan remained in that program. Sighing, Vader tucked the small black machine into a pocket. Next time he reactivated it, he would be careful about which program he activated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Padawan program flickers to life one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Linear timeline and coherent plots? What's that.

Realistically, Vader should have destroyed the two programs that housed his Jedi Master’s memories as soon as he had rediscovered them, but whatever remained of Skywalker had prevented it. Although he never did upload the program onto another device, to prevent anyone else from learning about his attachment to the Jedi programs. Now he regretted not having a back up.  
  
Vader had thought the black box was broken. It had chunks missing and the circuits were exposed. He remembered how he watched as the General program’s futile attempts to blink into existence a few months ago. The Padawan program did not appear to be able to run either, indicating the device was broken. Yet Vader had continued to keep the damn box with him.   
  
Which led him here, staring at the broken box, debating if he should let it melt in the lava of Mustafar. The projector flickered, and Vader dropped the device in his surprise. The Padawan program was able to manage to pull itself together for a final time. Vader had not set eyes on either Obi-Wan, and he greedily took in the appearance of the familiar padawan. A young Obi-Wan looked at the Sith Lord, his image becoming unsteady as the device struggled to project him.  
  
Obi-Wan smiled at him. 

“Master, I’m so glad you’re alright...” The padawan exclaimed, looking over the Sith Lord for any signs of injury.  
  
“I don’t know why I haven’t see--” The hologram froze.  
  
Vader felt his heart clench, as he stared at the AI. Obi-Wan’s eyes were unseeing as the processor struggled. The Sith Lord was unaware of how damp his eyes had become. How did he not know that the Padawan program was still able to run? Why had it not run prior to this point? Since it was running, he may be able to repair the damage to it, and perhaps restore the General program. He could have his master again...

The hologram unfroze, and it pursed it’s lips together. It had the same tight smile that Obi-Wan would later give Skywalker when he was tried to find words to tell him the bad news. The hologram sighed, gently “cupped” the face, the tears falling through the light. Each droplet sizzled as it touched the hot ground of Mustafar. The program becoming aware of the irreversible damage to it’s processor.  
  
“Oh, Master... I’m so glad I could see you again.” The expression softened greatly. “I’m going to be able to wish you goodbye.”  
  
Vader’s chest clenched, and he felt the Force began to stir. He began to open his mouth to speak, but the padawan cut him off.  
  
“Thank you for everything Master. I’m so proud of you...” It became harder to understand what the hologram was saying. “I love you....”  
  
The final words were uttered and the hologram blinked out of existence. The heart wrenching sadness caused the Force around Vader to wildly thrash. It caused waves of lava to crash onto the far side of the bank he was standing on, as he dropped to his knees. He felt the remnants of Skywalker lament inside his mind just as acutely as he did when Obi-Wan had first perished.  
  
Logically, Vader knew that the Padawan program and the General program had hundreds of lines of coding so both would be able to “feel” and express the love that Skywalker had desired. Whatever the programs “felt” was a product of Skywalker’s own delusions. He should not be as affected by the program saying it loved him in the Jedi Master’s voice, nor should he crave it as much as he did. But, the Sith Lord remembered Skywalker pouring over the Obi-Wan’s personal journals after he passed just searching for any inkling that the other General loved him. Vader had decided there was not enough evidence to draw the conclusion, but he still wanted all of Obi-Wan’s passion and love for himself. For a moment, he had it, and now he had lost it once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn briefly encounters the General program.

It had taken Qui-Gon far too long to master being able to interact with the living as a Force Ghost. Unfortunately, he had not taught Obi-Wan how to preserve himself post death, and it was too late to teach him. The Force trembled as Obi-Wan’s Force signature shattered, before it was lovingly engulfed into the Force. Once Obi-Wan’s Force was no longer distinguishable did he realize how the Force favoured the red haired Jedi. The Light Side had so firmly wrapped itself around Obi-Wan that even Qui-Gon had not noticed how similar it felt to his young padawan until his death.

The Force had wanted Obi-Wan to suffer infinite sadness, but it had ensured that it would always guide him through each challenge. Yet, without Obi-Wan and his steadying presence, Qui-Gon worried about what would come of Anakin. His Force signature felt significantly colder now that it was unable to wrap itself against the continual warmth of Obi-Wan. Anakin had always been surrounded by a turbulent Force signature, rapidly shifting from the Light to the Dark, but now it felt primarily dark. 

Qui-Gon searched through the Force to find the familiar beacon that was Anakin’s Force signature. Materializing in that room was not difficult. He caught the end of an argument that Anakin was having. The other person had a voice that sounded suspiciously similar to Obi-Wan’s voice. The next thing he knew, there was a loud thunk and Anakin was angrily storming out out of the room. The blue light of a hologram no longer causing the room to glow.

Curiosity piqued, the Force ghost poked his head into the room that Anakin had left. There was nothing there, except for a projector attached to a small black box. The box did not look like any comm unit he was familiar with. It resembled a processor someone would find within a droid. Qui-Gon reached out in the force to determine how far Anakin had stormed off, before deeming it safe to investigate. The blue of the hologram glowed and a screen prompted him to choose to run _Padawan_ or run _General_.

Not knowing what to expect, Qui-Gon ran the General program.

"Anakin, storming out in the middle of an argu-” The hologram paused as it took in its surroundings.  
  
Qui-Gon was staring at his former Padawan. It looked exactly like Obi-Wan did when he died. The young knights visage brought tears to his eyes as the Jedi Master realized it had been years since he had last heard that Coruscanti accent. However, the program was unable to see the Force Ghost right in front of it.

“Strange.”

The hologram of Obi-Wan looked around, trying to determine who activated it. It had anticipated waiting for a couple of days, if not weeks for Anakin to cool down from the argument they had, so it was pleasantly surprised to be called upon shortly after the fight. Although, it would first scold its creator about being rash and putting himself into unnecessary danger, before continuing to happily support its creator.  
  
"O-Obi-Wan?” Qui-Gon’s voice cracked.  
  
“Perhaps Anakin hit my processor harder than he realized trying to turn me off....” Obi-Wan muttered to himself when it determined there was no one there. “Running diagnostics.”  
  
Realization struck the Jedi Master, and he could feel his heart break for both his Padawans. Anakin had created an imitation of Obi-Wan. If he had more time, the older Jedi Master could have taught Obi-Wan the art of preserving his essence post-death so he would be able to help guide and support Anakin when the youngest male needed their wisdom. Now, Anakin was alone in the Order without someone who was willing to support him. Who was left who was also alive and close to the young knight? The Order was apprehensive about allowing Anakin to become a Jedi. His emotions were too volatile, yet with the help of Qui-Gon, and then Obi-Wan, he had been able to flourish as a Jedi.  
  
Anakin was alone within the Order. Not able to establish new connections with his age-mates due to the constant buzz of the Chosen One that followed him and his background as a former slave. He was also required to catch up on training all Jedi received from a young age. Anakin had been isolated among his peers and fellow Masters due to his lack of familiarity with the Jedi ways, and it left him more dependent on the few relationships he had. Each relationship that ended left a bigger emotional scar on Anakin’s heart. Of course he should have realized that Anakin would have never been able to let his late Master go.

“Oh Anakin...” Qui-Gon whispered in understanding. “This won’t bring him back...”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin working on creating the two programs.

Programming a hologram skin for an AI was not as difficult as Anakin had originally expected. There were plenty of recordings of his Master, and those recordings were exactly what he needed. It was tedious work converting the information into code, but was worth it. However, seeing the recordings of Obi-Wan as a young padawan again made him feel nostalgic. The nostalgia was the reason for why he ended up with two hologram skins. One skin looked like the man he had met on Tatooine all those years ago, and the other was a replica of the famous "Negotiator". Unfortunately, that was the easiest part. He still had to program a way for it to mimic Obi-Wan's cadence and to feed it the information so it could learn to be similar to his Master.

"Run program OB-1, input new, General." He commanded, as the blue of the hologram projector began to light up.  
  
The light began to form into General Kenobi. He looked it over to see if there was any glaring problems with the input. The dirty blonde saved the new appearance into the General program, before he loaded the next skin.  
  
"OB-1 input new, Padawan." He commanded, and repeated the same careful inspection.

It was only a cosmetic addition, but it was the start of a very complex program. The next easiest step would be to develop the hologram's voice to mimic Obi-Wan's, but he decided he should at least begin to feed it information so it would be able to create a more accurate replica of his Master. And he had already begun to uncover the volumes worth of information the Temple had on the former Jedi.

"OB-1 run Padawan, input new information..."

  
The days slowly melted into weeks as Anakin kept feeding the program more information on Obi-Wan. He was unable to understand why no one seemed to want Obi-Wan. The red haired man had always been deeply attuned to the Unifying Force, and his attitude was nothing compared to the padawan he would take on in his early twenties. How much did his master do to change himself so he could be the model Jedi he would later become? He was only half way through adding the information regarding Obi-Wan's time as a padawan when he decided he should ensure the program had properly incorporated the information.  
  
"Run program Padawan."  
  
Obi-Wan's blue form appeared and it looked around the quarters that used to be his and Anakin's. "Master Jinn?"  
  
The voice sounded wrong. The mechanical flat way it spoke broke the illusion that Anakin was contacting a younger version of his Master, but it seemed that the program had flawlessly integrated the ability to mimic movement. With a few more updates, he would be able to emote just as well as he could move.  
'  
"Hello Obi-Wan, my name is Anakin Skywalker." The hologram kept looking at him.  
  
"Master Skywalker," He finally greeted, making Anakin's stomach flip as he imagined what it would sound like when spoken in Obi-Wan's smooth accent.


End file.
